I've Moved!

This Blog has moved to Lunarlovetarot.com. Thank you for your continued support.

Love and light, 

Laranity

And to the craft store we go!

Yesterday my little one and I ventured to Joanne's in search of some fabric to construct a shopping cart seat cover! I found the perfect fabric...

A cute, simple mod apples and pear print. It was love at first sight, and I cannot wait to make my little man his seat cover. I just need to get a print that corresponds to this haha. I'm thinking of a mustard or green pock-a-dot print? We'll see!! :)

I wanted to make it match our diaper bag, but sadly I didn't have enough of the fabric and I can only find it online :( This is TOTALLY different from the diaper bag, so i might have to make a new one hehehehe we'll see XD

Our diaper bag<3

The Birth of Venus book review

Recently I took a trip to the goodwill nearby to donate some clothes with my husband. Since we were already there we decided to look around, and in the store there was a fairly large book area filled with pretty decent books. I picked this one up because (I know you aren't suppose to judge a book by it's cover) it caught my eye in the crammed bookshelf it occupied. After reading the synopsis of the book I decided to give it a try, and boy am I happy I did!

Sarah Dunant portrays the Italia Renaissance scene with vivid and great details (without being too wordy). When I closed my eyes I could imagine being the houses and streets that the main character was in. The language was neat and easily understood. All in all, I thought the author's writing style was great.

As for the story line itself, I thought it was pretty sweet. It follows the life of one Alessandra Cecchi as she grows into adulthood and describes the world of women during this awesome time in Europe. There was a lot of detail about the way females lived and what they did, where, and why packed in this book. And although the way they lived their lives and where they lived are very different from the world we live in today, I think many of the things Alessandra struggled with could be related to by young adults.

The main character wants nothing but to be able to paint, draw, and read books instead of doing "womanly" things. One night her father accompanied by a strange painter from a monastery comes into the picture and flips her world upside down. She is immediately fascinated by this painter and tries to learn and be friends with him even though he refuses to speak to her because of his vows of never speaking to women.

But to Alessandra's surprise and disappointment, she is soon married off to a much older person who is as intelligent and artistic as the bride herself. However, there is a secret he is hiding from the public eyes and begs his new wife to keep it a secret as well. Disaster could happen if anyone else finds out about it, and the burden is heavy.

Overall this book was quite enjoyable. It wasn't extremely long, but it had just enough details in it to be great. Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes I would, especially an artistic one :3

Bobbi Brown makeup manual review!

Hello world, no reviews the last month because I just got married! Now that things have settled down and I am moved into the apartment in Ca, I have time to to do whatever (at least until I start school next month). Recently I discovered a library that is located only two blocks away! Hello goldmine :3 I checked out a few books from there, and one of the books I picked up was the Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual by none other than Bobbi Brown herself.

I've read all kinds of reviews about it good and bad, but I haven't gotten a chance to physically look at it because I've been over seas. So when I saw this book on the shelf I was ecstatic. It only took me a day to read it because I zipped right through it.

For a book that is suppose to addresses basic info about makeup I thought that this is an excellent book! I'm pretty into makeup and I know the basics pretty well I think. That is probably why I went through the book so fast. I can tell you right now though that if I had this book years ago because it would have saved me a lot of time!

BBMM has a lot of info about everything from skin type, foundation, to eyebrow structure. I won't say that I learned nothing from this book because that would certainly be a lie. I think everyone can take a little something away from this. The book is filled to the top with pictures and step by step info that is very easy to follow :3

The instructions include things from how to pick foundation to applying the popular smoky eye technique! After studying this book and practicing you'll be able to apply makeup fast and easy!

Hmm... What else is good about this book? Well there is a section in the book on pointers to becoming a makeup artist, and advice on working on your career in the makeup art world! I thought that the chapter was just peachy!

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. It gave me a lot of cool advice and techniques on makeup application that I was giddy with the thought of trying everything I'd found. I guess I'll need to buy more to get some practice!! :3

★For Matrimonial Purposes Review★

Although there are a lot of negative comments about this book on Amazon.com, I for one loved it. I found it in the library while I was browsing, and I was really excited when I found this one. Indian novels being one of my favorite subjects of literature, I couldn't wait to sink my claws into this.
As soon as I started reading this book I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down. The story follows a young lady named Anju, an independent Indian girl living in New York city away from her family in Bombay. While she lives away from her home country she still wants to stick to the tradition of finding a husband and settling down like all of her past friends who still live in Bombay. I related to this character because I am half Japanese and I feel the same struggle of not wanting to stray from the Japanese way while being influenced by western culture.
The down side to this story in my opinion, was that it was a hurried ending. The story took a long time to unfold, and then it suddenly ended. Again, I enjoyed the novel very much and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in this subject matter, but there were some downsides to it. It was a very easy read, and if you are looking for an in depth description of Indian culture this book probably won't fit the bill. But I say go for it! :D

★Belly Dancing Performance!★

Yay, another performance! This was a couple weeks ago at a salsa club (i know, kind of weird), and I had a LOT of fun! I cut out someone next to me because of internet exposure. Anyway, here are some videos on youtube courtesy of my teacher :3

★LisaFreemontstreet Contest!★

So one of my favorite youtube gurus is doing a fabulous giveaway! There are all kinds of prizes galore to win from many great companies that aren't in the mainstream, which I think is an awesome way to promote these small companies! I'm posting her link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVqqEQCWRqw&playnext_from=TL&videos=x2Ymlzr9G0Q&feature=sub) and all the info about the companies that are participating in the giveaway! So, enjoy <3

Hand Crafted Jewelry by Andewyn Designs:
http://www.andewyndesigns.com/
Layrite Products from The Shop at Lisa Freemont Street:
http://lisafreemontstreet.bigcartel.com/
Sigma makeup:
http://www.sigmamakeup.com/
Pin Up Girl Clothing:
http://www.pinupgirlclothing.com
Besame' Cosmetics:
http://www.besamecosmetics.com
Belle Blossoms:
http://www.belleblossoms.com
Heartbreaker Cosmetics:
http://www.heartbreakercosmetics.com
Tuck N Roll Kustoms:
http://www.tucknrollkustoms.com/
Dolly Bags:
http://www.dungareedolly.com
Va Va Va Voom:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/misscasseycakes
Mama Gnome:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mamagnome
Cataphract Cold Creams and Scrubs:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Cataphract
Sulilo Fused Glass Jewelry on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sulilo